Now we have an account on Linkedin and we have brought our profiles to 100%. It’s time to build a presence: not only being on the site, but making it easier for others to find you. I will call this SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for job search.

Out of curiosity I Googled for “Interim Information Management Systems Consultant”. Turns out that #4 entry on Google’s first page is a Linkedin profile (I contacted the professional to have a brief discussion and ask to use his name, but we have not connected yet). Wow! That IS a way to make yourself easy to be found! Can you imagine how much would you have to spend on Internet Marketing to rank #4 on Google if you were a company?

Linkedin and other social networks profiles rank very well on Google: first of all the source is very trustful (according to Linkedin founder Reid Hoffman, the likelihood of subscribers posting untrue information drops dramatically for professionals with 10 or more connection), the profile is interconnected with other trustful sites (other profiles!) and the information that it contains is relevant (your profile!)

Therefore, there is a lot that you can do to make yourself surface the rest of the crowd. How can we use SEO for passive job search? My suggestions would be

• Use the title on Linkedin to briefly describe who you are professionally and your situation. Update your status. Make it easy for recruiters to understand if you are looking for a job or if you are currently employed.  It’s way better to have something like “CFO at looking for a job” than “CFO at -old company-”. Which reflects your status better?
• Be detailed on your description line. It would be better to better to say “FICO SAP Senior Project Manager” than “Project Manager”. Why? Recruiters search for detailed job descriptions. Precise profile information will make you rank better.
• Join Groups, answer subject matter expert questions, discuss topics, ask for recommendations…  in short, contribute. Not only will make you more valuable when recruiters scan your profile, but also … it ranks good on Google too.
• Increase the number of connections. The more connections you have, the better Google is going to position your profile. Interestingly enough, the professional that I was referring to above has only 26 connections, what would have happened if a professional with a comparable profile had over 500? One could argue that the latter would rank better.
• Build a consistent internet presence overall. Have a blog, discuss interesting topics, get people on internet to follow you, Tweet (? I personally cannot get to the 140 characters), participate in forums … A seminar that I attended recently quantified the hours that one should spend building an online presence would be 36h per month. Yes, right, I guess that’s too much. Limit the time that you devote to this. If you have to choose and pick one site to concentrate all your effort, pick Linkedin.
• You may want to/have to limit the amount of time that you devote to social media. Good practice. Then use Linkedin only (Honestly, the site does not pay me!). It recently reported 42 million users globally. Followers include: Xing that reported 7 million users in March 2009 and Plaxo, that reported 20 million users in July 2008, but holded records of 50 million users (?). Plaxo figures are not very reliable at all, since the company has not published an official press release with figures since July 2008 and that is not very encouraging.

Overall, using SEO for passive job search will definitely make you easier to be found, and when found it will make you look sound and professional and probably worth investing some time in contacting  you.

Some more food for thought! Comments? Ideas? Success stories? … all welcome!

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